1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to conveyor systems and arrangements, and more particularly, to a combining conveyor arrangement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Articles are often supplied to a conveyor arrangement in batches without any specific organization at the input of the conveyor arrangement. It is desired that the articles be discharged from the conveyor arrangement in an organized single file. In this manner, the articles can efficiently be supplied to other equipment for continued processing.
If the articles are not organized at the discharge end of the conveyor arrangement, jamming will result and production efficiency will greatly be reduced. Jamming generally occurs when articles are discharged side-by-side, and become wedged. Such wedging can cause the articles to become reoriented, or a blocking bridge formed at the discharge end, and ultimately the discharge of product articles is precluded. Moreover, exit blockage will result in massive accumulation of the articles requiring total system shutdown.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a combiner conveyor arrangement that converts a batch feed of a plurality of articles of product arranged substantially in parallel into a single file discharge.
It is another object of this invention to provide a combiner conveyor arrangement that converts a single file feed of a plurality of articles of product into a parallel discharge.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a combiner conveyor arrangement that prevents wedging and bridging of the articles of product.